


The Hunt

by elyjelly



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Detective Draco, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Private Investigator Draco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29852949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elyjelly/pseuds/elyjelly
Summary: One year after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione Granger finished her advanced healing course and the minister of magic deemed the world safe enough for her parents return. With help from the ministry’s best private investigator, Hermione begins the search for her parents, and finds what she’s been missing all along.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	The Hunt

**Author's Note:**

> This is a WIP I had in my drafts that I wanted to post. I wrote it about 2 years ago (?) so it's not up to par with my current standard, but still fairly decent. I also did not proofread it. 
> 
> Disclaimer: none of these characters belong to me.

On that fateful day when Hermione Granger obliviated her parents and sent them to Australia, she had assumed that’s exactly where they would stay. Content, completely unaware that they had a bushy brown-haired daughter thousands of miles away, fighting in a war that would only end in tragedy.

Never, not even for a second, had it occurred to her that Jane and William Granger would leave their cozy Australian cottage and set out for an international adventure. _Well,_ thought Hermione, _that’s because Jane and William Granger wouldn’t. Monica and Wendell Wilkins, however, seemed to be quite fond of travel._

Sighing in frustration, Hermione admitted defeat after searching her parent’s cottage for the third time. When she had arrived earlier that morning, she had expected to see them happily cooking breakfast as per their usual Sunday morning routine. Instead, she found the house completely empty. The furniture had a layer of dust on it, the milk in the fridge had gone bad, their suitcases were absent along with every piece of clothing they owned. Still jet-lagged from the three portkeys it took to get there, Hermione’s mind jumped to the worst possible conclusion: Death Eaters.

As an attempt to subdue her panic, Hermione frantically searched the house for any possible clues of their whereabouts. _I’ll find them_ , she thought, _they couldn’t have gone far. It’s only been a year._ Besides, she was the “brightest witch of her age”; there wasn’t much she couldn’t do when she put her mind to it.

Hermione returned to her flat in London two days later without any information pertaining to her parent’s location. Being too upset to safely portkey, she had weighed all possible options on the flight home: they had returned to England in search of their daughter who they suddenly remembered, they eloped to Italy and adopted three children, or they have been captured by vampires and are currently being used as juice.

She took out her keys, alarmed when she found the front door was already unlocked. She quickly took her wand from her beaded bag and edged into the flat, afraid of what might be lingering in the dark. She heard a soft mew and headed for the lounge, hoping her beloved kneazle, Crookshanks, wasn’t in danger.

“Hey, ‘Mione! Where’ve you been?” Hermione relaxed when she heard the familiar nickname and the slow drawl of her redheaded best friend. With him was an awkward looking Harry, clearly uncomfortable at having been found in her flat without permission.

Before he could apologize, Hermione embraced Harry in a warm hug and told them about her mission to Australia. _Maybe,_ she thought, _they could solve this problem together,_ like they had done with many others; they were “the Golden Trio”, and they _did_ win a war, after all.

Hermione watched as Harry stirred his tea mindlessly, listening to her with wide eyes and unmasked pity. Ron, though, was immediately jumping to conclusions and planning a search party. She laughed softly at the redhead, glad to have a slight distraction at the sadness that was pulling at her heart. Harry, however, was not as telling as the other man; he seemed to be deep in thought and kept quiet through most of the evening.

“Hermione”, Harry interrupted, sending a quick apologetic glance at Ron, “Do you remember when the Ministry arrested the five remaining Death Eaters?”

Hermione frowned. Of course she remembered. It had been one of the biggest cases the Ministry had taken on after the war ended. Voldemort had been defeated only a month before the uprising of a new dark arts group, _The Revivals_. Unsurprisingly, it was made up entirely of former Death Eaters who were loyal to the Dark Lord even after death. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had foolishly thought the danger was over, caught up in the celebration of what was to be a peaceful wizarding Britain.

It was then that five Death Eaters raided muggle London and tortured nine muggles into insanity. After that, they remained hidden, but the attacks continued almost weekly. Harry was beside himself. The worst part was over, but they now had to face opponents who were not as predictable as Tom Riddle.

The search for the remaining Death Eaters lasted three more months until the Ministry brought in an outside, anonymous source: a private investigator, known as Venandi, or more commonly, V.

They, along with the rest of the Order, were helping McGonagall repair Hogwarts when the remaining Death Eaters were chased out of their hideout and arrested by a series of Aurors. It only took two weeks for Venandi to find where they were staying and to create a fool-proof plan without any casualties. The Order, however, were none too pleased with having been kept out of such a high ranked mission.

Fenrir Greyback, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rebastian Lestrange, and Amycus and Alecto Carrow never made it back to the Ministry of Magic. An “accident”, the Aurors explained, during transportation caused them all to be caught in a storm of fiendfyre. Nobody questioned the mysterious deaths of the five men, or why Venandi survived the fire instead of perishing along with The Revivals. The Ministry covered the story up; whatever happened that night was quickly hushed, and as far as wizarding Britain was concerned, Venandi was a hero.

It took Hermione a week, one Harry Potter, and three personal trips to the Ministry for them to release the contact information for Venandi. Apparently, being given an Order of Merlin First Class didn’t give her access to the Ministry’s best resources. It wasn’t until Harry threatened to stop being their poster boy that Hermione received an owl containing a single line: Room _312_ _, The Leaky Cauldron, at 3:00. Come Alone._

Unable to contain her excitement, Hermione ran to the flu, immediately calling her two best friends.

* * *

Soon after, Hermione found herself standing in front of Grimmald Place’s flu network, nervous. “What if he can’t find them, Harry?” she said quietly, worrying her lip and picking at the buttons on her coat.

Harry pulled her in for a quick hug and smiled, “He’s the best private investigator at the Ministry, Hermione. Hell, he’s probably the best in all of Wizarding England; I’m sure he’ll find your parents,”. Ron nodded in agreement, obviously uncomfortable with her going to meet a strange man alone. Both boys had offered to come with her, but Hermione worried that if she showed up with the Golden Trio in tow, it would only scare the mystery man off. She smiled softly at Harry as he did up the buttons she had nervously pulled apart. After kissing each of her friends on the cheek, and pulling Ron into a quick hug, Hermione took a deep breath and stepped into the fireplace. 

* * *

Even with his disguise, she knew his voice. That snarky, self-serving drawl was unmistakable.

“Malfoy?” she hissed.


End file.
